Lei Mi - Profiler

After quickly cleaning several rooms, Zhang Baohua glanced down at her watch. It was already almost 7 a.m. According to regulations, the whole building had to be finished by eight. Thinking of the three floors she still had left to clean, Zhang Baohua massaged her waist and then pushed open the door to Room 404.

Huh ? she thought. What were people doing studying here this early?

Amid the empty desks in the classroom two people sat side by side. In the faint morning light, Zhang Baohua could just make out that one of them was dressed all in red.

If they had come there to study, why'd they leave the lights off?Hmph , she thought, they probably just snuck in here last night to have sex.

Curling her lips in contempt, Zhang Baohua switched on the light.

Eating as fast as they could, Fang Mu and Du Yu hurried to the MultidisciplinaryBuilding, but when they arrived they discovered that there was no reason to worry about being late for class. Several hundred students and teachers were already gathered outside the building, the scene as noisy as a food market. But although everyone was saying something different, they all wore the same panicked expression.

What had happened?

Fang Mu was about to ask one of the students beside him, when he noticed police cars parked on the street side of the building, their lights flashing. His face fell. Could someone else have died?

Abandoning Du Yu, he did his best to squeeze through the crowd. When he finally made it to the front, a policeman abruptly blocked his way.

"Can't you see the police tape?" he asked.

Behind him, a blue-and-white cordon separated an empty space in front of the building from the crowd of onlookers. The main door was wide open, and policemen could be seen rushing up and down the stairs. Through the window of the on-duty room, Fang Mu watched one of the building attendants haltingly explain something to an imposing veteran officer. In the chair beside them sat a cleaning lady. She was holding a cup of water with both hands and shaking all over, her eyes absolutely blank.

Suddenly there was a disturbance within the crowd. It was the dean, a rather heavy man, doing his best to wade through the onlookers. Once he had pushed his way to the middle, he lifted the loudspeaker he was carrying and turned it on.

After clearing his throat, he began to speak at the top of his lungs. "Students, teachers! All classes in the MultidisciplinaryBuilding have been canceled for the day! Makeup times will be posted at a later date. As for all other buildings, classes will proceed as scheduled. Again, all classes in the MultidisciplinaryBuilding are canceled for the day! Classes in all other buildings will proceed as scheduled!"

An excited murmur ran through the crowd, for even though they were all terrified of what might have happened inside the MultidisciplinaryBuilding, the prospect of skipping class that morning was still enticing. Yawning, students who had been up all night returned to their dorms to get some sleep, while those who hadn't yet eaten hurried to the dining hall. Whoever was inside the building, whatever had happened to them-it all seemed much less important than catching a few more hours of sleep or eating a good breakfast. After all, the lives of other people were just that- other peoples'.

Very quickly the crowd dispersed. Figuring that even if he waited around no one would tell him what was going on, Fang Mu also turned to leave. But just as he was about to walk away, he spotted Tai Wei's jeep parked outside the building.

Fang Mu was surprised. What was he doing here? Shouldn't this case be handled by the State Enterprise and Nonprofit Institution Investigative Division? And if so, why was he getting involved?

Fang Mu thought for a moment, and then he pulled out his cell phone and called Tai Wei.

The phone rang for a long time before Tai Wei picked it up. He sounded exhausted.

"Who is it?" he grunted.

"It's me. What's going on?"

"Oh, Fang Mu. How'd you know I was at your school?"

"I saw your car. What are you doing here? What exactly happened?"

"There weren't enough people on duty so I'm helping out for the time being. It's another goddamned murder."

"Who?" asked Fang Mu, his voice anxious. "What happened?"

"Don't ask. Right now I'm extremely busy. I'll contact you in a few days." Then without saying anything more, Tai Wei hung up.

Although it was clear from his abrupt tone that Tai Wei was upset, this was hardly surprising. Even as a cop, to be faced with one murder after another like this was enough to make someone curse-out their best friend.

And indeed, at that moment Tai Wei really did want to curse someone out. Zhao Yonggui had already run to the fourth floor bathroom to throw up, and although Tai Wei wanted to do the same, at least one of them had to remain at the scene at all times, so he had no choice but to stay put.

So summoning up his courage, he turned around and faced a sight unlike any he had ever seen before.

They were in a fairly large classroom, with enough seats for 80 people. In the fourth row sat the victim's corpse. Its skin had been peeled off.

Because nearly every inch of skin had been removed-including from the corpse's face-it was difficult to determine its gender. But given the adipose tissue remaining on the victim's chest, it was most likely female.

The skinless corpse sat at the desk with its face lowered, as if filled with shame. The crown of its head, once covered by long, thick hair, was now a bloody mess. A tapestry of muscles and veins covered its body, as if the victim were wearing some motley red-and-blue attire. Without any lips to cover them, the corpse's white teeth glistened brightly in the light of the flashing cameras.

Next to the corpse, a plastic male mannequin sat quietly. A strange kind of outfit was stretched tightly across its muscular frame. On closer inspection, this was revealed to be blood-spattered human skin. A pair of breasts hung loosely from the mannequin's chest, the nipples already dark purple. If this was a woman's skin, then its owner was most likely the corpse sitting at the next desk. Sitting next to its bloody, ravaged female companion, the mannequin looked perfectly innocent. The thin smile that crossed its lips made the crime scene photographers shudder as they snapped its picture.

Dizzy from the constantly flashing cameras, Tai Wei increasingly felt the need to vomit. Breathing heavily, he pulled aside one of the photographers and asked roughly, "Are you guys done yet?" When the man said yes, Tai Wei waved his hand and said, "Everyone else, get to work!"

With that, the medical examiners and crime scene investigators sprung swiftly to action.

Silently, Tai Wei gazed at the two motionless figures before him. The sun was climbing higher in the sky, and the once dark classroom was now filling with light. As bright rays poured through the window, he grew distracted, and for a moment he imagined that he was a teacher, and these two "students" were his class. But what would he be teaching them? Human anatomy?

Suddenly, one of the medical examiners gave a shout. Then a moment later, he cried: "Tai Wei, come look at this!"

His reverie interrupted, Tai Wei quickly walked over.

"What is it?" he asked.

"See for yourself," said the medical examiner, clearly astonished. He pointed at the corpse's head.

Tai Wei looked to where he was pointing. Two thin black cords ran from somewhere inside the desk drawer, up the corpse's body, and then into either ear.

It was a pair of earphones. As Tai Wei reached out to open the drawer, the medical examiner quickly tried to stop him. "Be careful," he said, "inside there's probably a — "

Ignoring him, Tai Wei slowly opened the drawer. A small CD stereo had been placed neatly within.